TRAIL MIX: Would you pay to hike?

This is a fascinating read and maybe something to watch. Wyoming is considering charging a fee to hike. Their reasons are legit.

This is a quick excerpt from a story in Backpacker Magazine, and I’ll put the link to it below.

“We don’t have enough miles to meet the need, and at the same time, the trails we currently have are not being maintained,” says Domenic Bravo, with Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites and Trails Division. If the bill advances, Wyoming could be the first state to require a permit for nonmotorized trail users.

Wyoming’s proposal is part of a push for new and creative solutions to pay for trail maintenance as public lands’ growing popularity outpaces federal funding. The U.S. Forest Service estimated in 2012 that just one-quarter of its 158,000 trail miles met the agency’s standards, amounting to a $314 million backlog. The National Park Service’s currently faces $11 billion in deferred maintenance costs, including $462 for trails.